Reinforced moving-picture-fiim drive



M. T. MI'NOGUE.

REINFORCED MOVING PICTURE FILM DRIVE.

APPLlcATIoN FILED Nov. Io, 1919.

1,359,821 Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

nya

esegesi.

UNITED smrssrarsni OFFICE.

MARTIN "r. Minoonn, or PHILADELPHIA, rENNsYLvAifriA.

REIFORCED MOVING-PIGTRE-FILII DRIVE.

l To all whom t 'may concern.'

Be it known that I, MARTIN T. MiNoeUii, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and Stateof Pennsylvania, have iiivented certain new and useful Improve,- mentsin Reinforced Moving-Picture-Film Drives, of which the following is aspecification.

@ne object of my invention is'to so reinforce the ordinary manufacturedfilm to prevent breaking or fracture atv the sprocket holes or breakingotherwise during the operation of same, thus greatly adding to the wearand usefulness of the film.

A further obj ect of my invention is to so reinforce a movingpicturefilm as to render it practically non-breakable in actual use thusmaintaining a synchronism between the moving picture' and a talking`machine,

working in conjunction with each other.

These objects I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth. Referencehad to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a piece of filmreinforced with a single filament or strand atA each row of sprocketholes. F ig.r Qis a piece of moving picture film reinforced with twolaments or strands of material Vat each row of the sprocket holes. Fig.3 is a longitudinal cross section of a piece of moving picture filmshowing the filament or strand interwoven longitudinally through thesprocket holes of the film. Fig. 4iis a cross section of a fsprocketspool driving a film reinforced with one filament. Fig". 5 is a crosssection of a sprocket spool driving a fiim reinforced with twofilaments.

In Fig. l of the drawing l represents a piece of film of the regularmanufacture with the proper sizedand spaced sprocket holes through whicha single filament 2 of teeth and extends to a depth inst below the baseof the sprocket teeth 12. The filaments or strands are woven into theholes of the film l longitudinally from one sprocket hole to another andso the spaces 11i and 15 are Specification of Letters Patent. PatentgdVNov.

\ y y Application filed November 10, 1919. Serial No. 337,101. i

divided. One -half of thefilmspaces are above the filament andl theother half`r ofthe spaces 15 are below the filament andi areclampedagainst the surface of the spool sprocket as it `travels over same bythe filaments riding on top of spaces l5. The .neXt

hlm space la being on top of the filament Zthefilament will travel inthe groove 11 in the center of the sprocketwheels, thus providing a beltdrive by the combined friction of the film l and the filamentQ; The

sprocket holes serve onlyiny the capacity ofy timing the pictures by theintermittent gear.

'The groove ll being slightly under the sur-` face of the ysprocketspool and deeper than the base of the sprocket teeth provides for astrong' clamping surface, ff as filament 2 presses spaces 15 againsttliesurface ofthe spool sprocket. Also the filament `or strand which ison the .under Lside of the spaces ofthe film between the sprocket 'holes`rides in lthegrooves il andallows vthe film lfto adhere to-the`surface` of the spool sprocket it travels over same. y f y Figi@ofdrawing is the regular manufactured film with twofilaiiients 5 andk 6interwoven4 in lsprocket holes longitudinally from hole tohole,separated land each resting a the opposite sides of the sprocket holes,yotherwise it is siinilarto the reinforced film described in Fig. l withthe exceptionthattlie rated and guides them to the grooves '8 and 9around (which they travel.

T he kmaking of the doubie filament is siniilarto that of the singlefilament explained in Fig. l. The object of the'double filament is toprovide greater strength and friction drive.

While I have described a reinforced film and drivej with a single and adouble filament passing through the sprocket holes yof the entirelengthof a-film reel, I do not confine myself toany particular number offilaments that may be used for reinforcement, iroviding the drivingsprockets areso made to receive and drive them properly, neither y do Iconfine myself to any particular material for the filaments or strandsbut they must be small in diameter, strong and very fieXible with a verylimited amount of stretching quality7 such as linen thread or cord7copper or steel wire. Neitherdo I confine myself to Athe method ofattaching the filaments to the film. It can be woven from one hole toanother as explained or holes can be skipped and filaments passedthrough holes at any given length or desired distance. It can be placedon one or both sides of the film longitudinally withthe sprocket holesand attached to the spaces of film between the sprocket holes inany'well known way, or it can be a part of the manufactured film inwhich the filaments are embedded in the film bridging across sprocketholes or at the sides of same. Fig. 3 of drawing shows how i thefilaments or strands are woven longitudinally from one sprocket hole toanother.

Fig. l of drawing shows a sprocket spool 3 to drive a slno'le filamentin each of the series of sprocket holes in each'side of thev film l.This sprocket 3 has a central groove l0- and Il in the sprocket teeth'to receive the filaments 2 and 2. Fig. 5 of the drawing` is a sprocketrspool .7 to drive doubleV lilament as explained in l* ig. 2 with filmet. The

' s Jrocket teeth i6 are formed with angle sides pointed at the top todivide the laments 5 and 6 terminating at the base with grooves 8 and 9,the laments 5 and G traveling in the` grooves 8 and 9 between thesprocket holes of the film.

I desirerto call attention to the synchronism of the moving picture tothe talking machii'ie.`V rllhe great drawback encountered to properlysynchronize the two machines is on account of the breaking of thepicture vention ofya reinforced Vfilm and drive pre-A venting breakageand fracture of film a synchronism is constantly maintained between themoving picture and the talking machine. In the usev of vmy invention-ofa non-breakable film and drive, with the ordinary projecting machines,it is only neces-V sary to remove the spool sprockets of the ma- Y chineand replace them with the proper spool sprockets 'of my invention,`which will not onlyrdrive and time the reinforced film, but will alsodrive and time the ordinary film that has not been reinforced. f

Having thus described my invention I claim i l. rthe combination of amoving picture i'ilm reinforced with a flexible drivingvbelt of anysuitable material, passing longitudinally across the sprocket holes andinterwovenV througl'i the same, a sproc ret spool having a se esoft-eeth to engage the sprocket holes of the film, the sprocket teeth'beingformed to properly receive the flexible driving belt. 2. Thecombination ofa. moving-picture film reinforced with a. single `filamentor strand of anysuitable material passing longitudinally in the centerof sprocket holes of Lhe moving picture film, said filament or strandinterwoven. through the soiocl it holes,Y half of the spaces of the filmbetwe n he sprocket holes being aboveand the otherl half below saidiilament or traiid, a sprocket Vspool having a series of teeth to engagethe sprocket holes of the film,the sprocket teeth having a groovel incenter of said teeth to receive said filament or strand and drive saidlilamei'i't and moving `picture film as described. Y

3. The combination of a moving picture i'ilin reinforced with a flexibledriving belt or filament passing longitudinally across the sprocketholes and interwoven through the r o, a sprocket spool having a seriesof -i to engage the sprocket holes ofthe the teeth of said sprocketspool being so. formed to properly receive the driving belt or filament,said formation of sprocket Y teeth being lower than the outer surface ofthe sprocket spool as described.

In testimony whereof, I havesigned my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARTIN T. MINOG'UE. lVitnesses CHAs. L. SMITH, HARRY C. I/Vnnniz.

